Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume
XXXIV, National Security Policy, 1969–1972

The Defense Budget and Safeguard Phase III

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials,
NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box
H–118, DPRC Minutes, Originals,
1969–1973. No classification marking. In an April 23 memorandum,
Lynn informed Kissinger that the meeting’s
primary purpose was “to allow you to provide guidance to the DPRC concerning what the President
wants from the studies he has directed and the desired schedule for
their completion.” (Ibid.) Lynn was referring to studies of strategy, available
resources for defense and military commitments, general purpose
forces, the U.S. strategic posture,
military R&D, and the U.S. East Asia base structure, as
formally called for by the President in his April 2 memorandum, Document 136. The DPRC had discussed the first two at its meeting on
March 23; see Document 132 and footnote
8 thereto. According to Kissinger’s un-dated talking points for the April 24
meeting, the President desired the studies so as “to avoid the
situation he faced during last year’s budget review, where he was
asked to make fundamental decisions on the size and composition of
the defense budget under extreme time pressure and without a
thoughtful analysis to help him.” Notes of the meeting and Kissinger’s talking points are in
National Archives, Nixon
Presidential Materials, NSC Files,
NSC Institutional Files
(H-Files), Box H–100, DPRC Meeting,
April 24, 1970.

Source: Washington
National Records Center, OSD Files:
FRC 330–73A–1971, 381, Defense Planning FY 71. Top Secret. Previous drafts of this paper were
discussed at the DPRC meetings of
July 17 and August 10 and a special meeting, attended by Nixon, held on July 28 at the
Western White House in San Clemente to discuss the defense budget.
See Documents 145, 149, and 148,
respectively.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials,
NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box
H–110, NSC Minutes Originals 1970 [3
of 3]. Top Secret. The NSC meeting
took place in the Cabinet Room of the White House and lasted until
11:50 a.m., according to the President’s Daily Diary. (Ibid., White
House Central Files) Brackets are in the original.

Source: National Archives,
Nixon Presidential
Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box
H–219, NSDM 84. Top Secret. Sent
for action. Lynn sent the
memorandum to Kissinger on
August 28 under a covering memorandum. Kissinger wrote two comments near the top of the
memorandum’s first page. The first reads, “Hold implementation ‘till
Monday [September 7].” The other, addressed to Wayne Smith of the NSC Staff, reads, “Run this past
Schlesinger.” In a
September 7 memorandum, Haig
informed Kissinger that
Schlesinger concurred.
(Ibid.)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials,
NSC Files, Box 235, Agency
Files, DPRC & Def Budget—Vol.
2–1970. Secret; Nodis. The meeting was held in the Situation Room of
the White House. All brackets are in the original.

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials,
NSC Files, Box 713, Country
Files, Europe, USSR, Vol. X. Top
Secret; Sensitive. Helms sent
the memorandum to Kissinger
under a November 10 covering memorandum that begins, “Here is the
paper requested on your behalf last evening.” Wayne Smith summarized the CIA memorandum in a November 13
memorandum to Kissinger, who
initialed Smith’s memorandum.
(Ibid.)

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, NIC Files, Job 79–R01012A. Top Secret.
The CIA and the intelligence
organizations of the Department of State, the Department of Defense,
the AEC, and the NSA participated in the preparation of
this estimate. The Director of the CIA submitted this estimate with the concurrence of all
members of the USIB with the
exception of the representative of the FBI, who abstained on the grounds that the subject was
outside of his jurisdiction. The table of contents is not printed.
The full text of this NIE is in the
CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room
(www.foia.cia.gov). Nixon
sent a letter to Helms on
March 8, 1971, thanking him for the NIE, which marked “a considerable improvement over last
year’s version.” The President commended the NIE’s “frequent sharply-defined, clearly argued
discussions of various contested issues;” its “attempt to
incorporate a wide range of sources,” including Soviet SALT statements; its attempt to
identify the most likely Soviet force models and goals; and its
quantitative detail. (Central Intelligence Agency, Executive
Registry Files, Job 80–B01086A, 157, White House) NIE 11–8–69, September 9, 1969, is Document 46.

Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330–76–0076, 320.2, Strategic. Top
Secret; Sensitive. According to an attached note, this memorandum
was intended for Packard in
preparation for his December 18 meeting with Laird, Moorer, and the rest of the Joint Chiefs regarding
the FY 1972 Defense budget. No record
of the meeting has been found. Notes on both the JCS memorandum and the covering
memorandum indicate that Laird saw them.